Insanity
Insanity is the radioactive rocks on which Bay12 runs and upon which its inhabitants feed in order to sustain their leech-like existence. It is the sweetest nectar, the best mead, and the finest ambrosia to the sort of addled mind of those who play Roll to Dodges. Despite the GM's initial goal of not having any insanity in Cheesistan, it was not long before the whole thing was saturated in the fallout of several nuclear crazy-bombs. What Is Insanity? Insanity is a chaotic, life-altering, world editing force that shapes and reshapes the world as we know it. It is associated with strange comedy, fascinations with the bizarre, and sudden urges to do things that would be fatal if not for the protection of the Insanity. Insanity is what foils the GM being able to control and railroad the plot into a comprehensible, sensible sort of thing. Like a dam after a heavy rain-storm, the GM's pathetic plot is just waiting to break and release the nourishing and all-consuming flood of insanity onto the thirsty plains of the players' spare-time. Notable Wielders of Crazy GM: All of us! We're all mad here! Bob: But I'm not mad. GM: Oh surely you must be! You wouldn't be here if you weren't. Urist McDwarf's Guide to Insanity According to leading psychologists, there are three basic flavours of insanity: *Berserk: The afflicted flips their s*** and starts breaking things and people and doing angry smity things. *Stark Raving Mad: The afflicted runs around babbling like an idiot and doing weird things with a complete and utter disregard of their carefully and tediously crafted characterizations. Basically, they flush 5+ hours of my life down the drain. *Melancholy: The afflicted decides not to do anything for long periods of time, doing such silly things as making himself a speed bump, testing to ensure gravity works, and inventing new alcoholic beverages for enjoyment of the masses. It is worth noting that this theory has recently been majorly discredited as it does not account for the seeming divine inspiration of some to do that which is insane. Further, all three of these things are too highly tied up in the concept of "issues", which has nothing to do with ''true ''insanity. Not to be confused with... Insanity is not to be confused with traditional insanity, the condition of repeating the same task ad infinitum expecting a different result, although there is quite a lot of over lap. Insanity is also not to be confused with stupidity which is much more often a lasting condition and does not present with the same manic episodes and mad laughter as insanity. In particular the difference between insanity and stupidity is that stupid does not consider the consequences of the totally illogical thing they are about to do, while insane ''does ''consider it and possibly discusses it at length but still does it anyway. Insanity should also not be confused with "issues", which are deep-set psychological maladaptations and emotional disorders that result from some personal trauma or deformity. ( Though it could be argued that insanity arises from issues, it often manifests totally independent of it. Also, whereas insanity is random and inexplicable, issues are predictable and can be rationalized and understood. ) Insanity and Society Insanity is often incorrectly classed as the antithesis of society. However, insanity actually supercedes it. Insanity is neutral and often benefits society rather than just harming it. Nonetheless, it is because of this common misconception that society chooses to repress insanity and give us other, lesser forms of nonsense like the LGBT, feminists, clowns, cultists, Tom Cruise and the modern Republican party. ( All forms of entertainers designed for the GM to laugh at and feel superior to, whilst simulatenously fearing them because they lack both sense and the natural balance provided by insanity. ) ( Disclaimer, we are actually very, very friendly to our LGBT ... um... associates and our feminist sisters compatriots liberators masters mistresses self gender definable rulers that we refer to by no archaic titles related to the Patriarchy of the heathen days. Did I type that exactly how you want? Please don't kill me... No! No! NOT THE SCARY RUSSIAN LADY! DON'T SQUISH MY HEAD WITH YOUR THIGHS!!!!! ) Insanity and the Female of the Species It is rumoured that the Female of the Species is incapable of experiencing the glories of Insanity and is relegated only to the realm of "issues". However, I disagree! I have observed wild human females exhibiting all the tell-tale signs of insanity, it is simply much rarer. And there is at least one natural, authentic female Bay12'er, thus proving (because Bay12 is uninhabitable by the Insanity-impaired) that females can also experience the joys of insanity. Insanity and Feminism It is rumoured that some feminists claim that only men are Insane, and that insanity is, in fact, evil. ( Coincidentally, this is why many men claim that all women are insane and confuse insanity with BS dogma. Further leading to the problems talked about in "Insanity and Society" ) They are wrong, blinded by their own hubris and failure of logic. As proven above, Insanity is accepting of all races, genders, sexual orientations, creeds, and ages. Also, insanity cannot be inheriently evil ( or at least not more than all imperfect sapients ) as it provided many of the amazing things that we have to play with today! For example, Bay12, Dwarf Fortress, Vincent Van Gogh, Nikola Tesla, statues, and this Roll to Dodge! Insanity and the Blood god It is interesting to note that the Bay12'ers have devised/discovered what they believe to be the personification and embodiment of insanity, whom the affectionately refer to as "Armok, the God of Blood." It is possible that this name stems from an old fashioned idiom for Insanity, "a fever in the blood." Other entymologies exist, but Bay12'ers get along just fine with our differences because we never lie or argue about anything.